With an increase in the use of electronic devices such as mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and so forth, electronic devices are being increasingly designed in small sizes so that users can carry them easily. One of the common features of electronic devices is data entry. With the reduction in the size of electronic devices, however, existing data entry methods and mechanisms have been modified either to suit the reduced size of the portable electronic devices or are full-sized accessories.
Several methods, such as using a virtual keypad and handwriting character recognition, involve the use of touch-screen technology. A virtual keyboard, however, utilizes valuable screen area while handwriting recognition requires learning either on the part of the user or the electronic device software. Other methods use a numeric keypad (with or without predictive text entry), a reduced-size alphanumeric keypad, alternate key-types such as a thumbwheel or joystick, and a full-size external alphanumeric keyboard that is attached or wirelessly connected to the electronic device.
With the continued adoption of portable communication devices that support text messaging and electronic mail features, it becomes more and more important to have input devices that are compact and yet easy to use. Thus, there are opportunities to develop additional data entry mechanisms for electronic devices.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.